A summary of the results of a systematic literature review examining the developmental appropriateness of children and young people accessing indecent images of children (IIOC), and the associated characteristics of those who engage in the behaviour. Research published between 2000 and 2015 across five different research platforms was identified using predefined search terms. The review focused primarily on research with children and young people, but findings from systematic reviews and meta-analyses of research with adults were also included for comparison.

A summary of the results of a retrospective online questionnaire study conducted by the ISEC Project to examine the vulnerability characteristics, online behaviours and experiences of sexual solicitation of young people. The sample consisted of 1166 young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 from three countries (United Kingdom, N = 340; Ireland, N = 529; Italy, N = 297) who answered questions about their offline lives, online behaviours and experiences when aged 12-16. The majority of the sample (70%) were in education at the time of responding, and 71.1% of respondents were female.

Lund University, Sweden & University of New Hampshire, USA (May 2015)
A summary of the results of the large scale and nationally representative Third Youth Internet Safety Survey (YISS-3) undertaken in the USA between August, 2010 and January, 2011. The study aimed to quantify youth experiences with unwanted sexual solicitations, harassment and unwanted exposure to pornography online. The sample consisted of 1,560 Internet users aged 10-17 and their caretakers. The results presented are based on data from those participants who reported unwanted Internet experiences (e.g., sexual solicitation, online harassment, unwanted exposure to pornography) and who answered follow-up questions about whether they had told someone about the experience (n = 134, n = 174 and n = 346 respectively) or how the situation ended (n = 134, n = 170 and n = 348 respectively).

Crimes Against Children Research Centre, University of New Hampshire (March 2014)
A summary of the results of the Third National Juvenile Online Victimization (NJOV-3) Study undertaken in the USA. A stratified national sample of 2,653 U.S. law enforcement agencies were contacted to request data on arrests in 2009 for Internet-related sexual exploitation against minors, with detailed telephone interviews conducted with investigators about individual cases. The data presented examines a subset of arrest cases that included the use of online sexual communications (n = 143 online-meeting offenders; n = 139 know-in-person/online offenders).

NCMEC (Feb 2014)
An overview of statistical information provided by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the U.S. relating to the child abuse images they have dealt with since the launch of their Exploited Children’s Unit in 1998 up to and including 11th November 2012.

ChildLine (Sept 2013)
A summary of the results of analysis of the over 10,600 counselling sessions ChildLine received in 2012-13 where young people talked about a problem they had experienced online. These include cyberbullying, online sexual abuse, sexting, social networking and online safety issues.

Michelle McManus (University of Central Lancashire) (July 2013)
A summary of the results of a study examining discriminatory differences between dual and noncontact offenders in relation to socio-demographic characteristics, quantity and type of Indecent Images of Children possessed, and internet activity. The sample consisted of 120 (60 dual and 60 noncontact) adult male IIOC offenders aged 18 years and older selected through stratified opportunity sampling. All 120 offenders were arrested between January 8, 2007 and February 25, 2011. Data collection occurred between May 2009 and August 2011.

Elena Martellozzo, Middlesex University
A small scale ethnographic study of the police’s covert investigations on online child sexual abuse, focusing on their policing strategies and the grooming process unravelled.